*This is a repost from April 28, 2009. I have had intentions of writing something about Autism Awareness Month for the last, oh, 7 days, but haven’t gotten to it. I will get around to writing something fresh for AAM, but I feel this post still works.

Please note that our son is now 16, and doing AWESOME! Also, the current rates of autism in the US have been updated. According to the CDC, now 1 in 110 are on the autism spectrum. 1 in 70 boys. 1 in 315 girls.

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This is late in coming, but I’ve had some trouble finding my inner-blog for a while and I still wanted to get the word out there…even though it is the end of April! But I hope y’all will appreciate my feeble attempt to share what is a big part of our lives with you!

Fourteen years ago, our lives changed forever…we became parents to the most beautiful baby boy ever born. Five years after that, our world was rocked in a way I will never be able to adequately describe here. We have been blessed beyond measure and experienced the depths of sorrow. We have celebrated victories and walked through challenges. We have cried, but more often we have laughed.

In April of 2000, our son was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a high functioning form of autism.

April is Autism Awareness Month

So, what, exactly, do I want you to be aware of? What do I want you to know about my son and others like him?

1 in 150 births are affected—this makes autism more common than pediatric cancer, juvenile diabetes and AIDS combined.

1 – 1.5 million Americans are living with autism

autism is the fastest growing developmental disability

every 20 minutes, a child is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder

autism is disproportionately more common in boys than in girls

the cause, though often speculated about, is unknown and there is no cure

People with autism experience challenges in three primary areas—social interaction, communication and repetitive behaviors. These challenges vary in severity from mild to debilitating. There is a huge amount of information on the web now about Autism, PDD, and Asperger’s Syndrome.

What I want people to remember most of all is that people with autism are people. People who want to be loved, understood and accepted. People who have gifts and talents to offer the world.

This is a video I made last year for Autism Awareness Month…thought I’d share it here again.